Dancing While Black: Voices from the Bush at BAAD!

When: Thursday May 17th, 2012
7:00 Panel Begins, 8:00 Performance
Where: 841 Barretto Street, Bronx, NY, 10474
For tickets: Call 718-842-5223

Featuring current and former dancers from Urban Bush Women-Maria Bauman, Marjani Forte, Paloma McGregor and Samantha Speis- who present their own brazen dance works, this is an artist-led initiative that explores many questions surrounding black culture, identity, and art.

Panel discussion at 7:00! PANELISTS: Christal Brown/INSPIRIT dance company; Shalonda Ingram/Nursha Projects; cultural critic Greg Tate; Milta Vega-Cardona/People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and Tony-nominated choreographer Marlies Yearby.  Moderated by Shani Jamila/Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center.

Maria will perform Women I know, a contemporary dance solo about pushing away the walls of an encroaching box of prescribed femininity.  The piece includes honest photography of women by BJ Watkins and an original score by Ashley Phillips/APSoul.

OUT LIKE THAT! at BAAD!
the Bronx’s only festival celebrating works by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender artists

When: Friday June 15, 2012
8:00
Where: 841 Barretto Street, Bronx, NY 10474
For tickets: Call 718-842-5223

Kendra and Maresa will perform Concerning Proximity.  The piece was described in the New York Times by Claudia La Rocco: “texturally rich in its gestural language, and  beautifully performed by Maresa D’Amore-Morrison and Kendra Ross (how refreshing to see a matter-of-fact depiction of lesbian sexuality).  Daniel José Older’s moody score, ‘En Exilio,’ was well met by these nuanced dance artists.“

MBDance & Friends: Sweat Your Truth! at WOW Cafe Theater

When: July 13 & 14, 2012
8:00
Where: 59 East 4th Street, Lower East Side

APSoul headlines this gathering of artists sweating out their passion in music, dance, and spoken word.  And MBDance will show an excerpt from our newest piece, Stand!

SummerStage in Marcus Garvey Park

When: August 11, 2012
7:00
Where: Marcus Garvey Park, Madison Ave, E. 120 St. E. 124 St.
FREE!Join us for one of New York’s treasures–free outdoor summer concerts.  We are thrilled to be part of New York’s SummerStage Series, and honored to share the evening with Kùlú Mèlé African Dance & Drum Ensemble!

Sweat the Technique!
August 27-30, 2012

Got a body?!

Come one, come all! Maria is thrilled to again lead a modern dance workshop at Peridance this summer.  We will sweat, dig deep, and venture into unexplored dance territory as we challenge and honor our bodies.  This workshop is the perfect remedy for summer coach-potato syndrome and ideal for students looking to get back into dancing shape before the semester commences!

When: August 27th-August 30th, 2012
4:30-6:00pm
Where: Peridance Capezio Center International Dance School
126 East 13th Street, NY.
Who: YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE YOU KNOW THAT HAS A BODY THAT WANTS TO MOVE!
Cost: Single class-$17, Full Workshop-$68
Register here: bit.ly/McHO0T

Partner with Us!

We are working hard towards upcoming summer performances, but we need your help to accomplish our full creative potential! Please consider making a tax-deductible pledge to MBDance today: bit.ly/IbQ3q6

A $12 donation affords MBDance 1 hour of rehearsal in NYC! With an average of 20 hours of rehearsal per month, we would greatly appreciate your fiscal support!

Your donation can also help facilitate:

• Composer Commission
• Costumes
• Artists Fees
• Set Design

Thank you for your support–we hope to sweat with you at a nearby dance studio or performance soon!

Time to liberate…

RingShout for Reproductive Justice: FREEBIRTH
at WOW Café Theatre 

Maria, is a proud member of WOW Café Theatre Collective. We are a group of artists–women & transgender folks–using sweat equity to share our WOW stage & lift our voices.
MBDance & WOW Café Theatre are pleased to present
Ebony Golden & Betty’s Daughter Art Collective
in their debut of
RingShout for Reproductive Justice: FREEBIRTH
at WOW, March 9^th and 10^th.
After a billboard surfaced in SoHo proclaiming “the most dangerous place for a black child is in the womb,” [WHAT?!?!] Body Ecology launched a visionary RingShout for Reproductive Justice campaign with radical performance as a tool for sustained dialogue about reproductive freedom for black women.
FREEBIRTH is an interactive, multi-media exploration of black women’s power to liberate our bodies, lives, & reproductive choices.
Go ‘head, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collective!

WHEN: Saturday, March 9th & Saturday, March 10th
DOORS OPEN AT 7PM
WHERE: WOW Café Theatre, 59-61 E. 4th Street (4th floor)
between Bowery & 2nd Ave. NY, NY
HOW: $10 tickets here: rs4rjfreebirth.eventbrite.com OR $15 tickets at the door

Time to celebrate…

Congratulations, MBDancer
Kendra Ross!

We are thrilled to announce that MBDance collaborator, Kendra Ross, just presented her newest work destruction/Revitalization…REPURPOSE in Kalamazoo, MI at the Midwest Regional Alternative Festival hosted by Wellspring Corri Terry & Dancers!

Inspired by the Detroit Mural Factory North End outdoor art galleries, Kendra collaborated with Maya Cadwell Stovall to explore urban repurposing and community.
Our team is abundant and powerful. Congratulations, Kendra!

Time to excavate…

Stand

Creating Stand at FSU

How do you stand with sandbags in your throat and barbells stacked across your thighs?
Maria is in the thick of excavating inner landscapes for our work in progress, Stand. From examples of standing up and out during recent movements–peaceful demonstrations in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, Occupy Wall Street, & the fight to ratify same-sex marriage–to a personal narrative of grief and loss, Stand will be a kinetic photo album of resourcefulness, courage, and wry humor.

Be part of the creative process.
To make this piece as resonant and visually compelling as we envision, MBDance is raising funds for the production.  We value your contributions.
Your investment facilitates:

• Set design–including white marley, chairs, stones, weights, & pebbles

• Composer commission

• Costumes

• Artist fees

All pledges are appreciated. Please click here to invest in MBDance: www.thefield.org/Profile.MBDance

MBDance is a sponsored artist with Performance Zone Inc (dba The Field), a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the performing arts community. Contributions to The Field earmarked for MBDance are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained from The Field or from the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

Time to relate…reach out!

What are you up to?

We want to know what you are up to, how you #sweatyourtruth, and what’s happening in your world.

Let us know by following us on twitter:
www.twitter.com/#!/MBDanceMBDance.

Tweet ya later!

This month, MBDance shakes off the cold and builds up a sweat in the continued creation of our newest piece, Stand.  Stand investigates and responds to our generation increasingly standing up to pressing issues in physically powerful ways.  We look forward to the continued growth of this piece, which will be performed by two MFA candidates from Florida State University as a capstone to their educational careers.

Feeling left out in the cold? Get in on the action with this rehearsal footage of Rachel S. Hunter & Keisha Calderon:

MBDance is on Twitter!

Now that it is 2012, we have finally joined the 2000s; we’re on Twitter! Follow us, drop us a line, and talk about politics, sweat, and dance with us. We are @MBDanceMBDance, and we use #sweatyourtruth.
Tweet ya later!
www.twitter.com

Two Interns Join the MBDance Mission

MBDance is proud to welcome two new members to our team. James and Charlotte share a love of contemporary dance and excitement about helping others sweat their truth.

Meet James  and Charlotte:

James Murray, new MBDance intern

James is a native New Yorker and triple threat at Long Island University! When he is not busy tending to his three majors, he can be found mastering the game of Sudoku and taking dance classes at Peridance. James is quite enthusiastic about beginning his adventures with MBDance.

Charlotte Rosen, new MBDance intern

Charlotte is a passionate dancer from New Jersey, completing her last semester at Connecticut College. Graduating this May with a BA in Dance and Psychology, Charlotte also has a fervor for West African Dance and Pilates. She is pleased to help spread the gift of concert dance with others as a member of the MBDance team.

The Field–Fiscal Sponsorship!

The Field is a nationally recognized arts service organization that stands as a pillar of support for artists of multiple disciplines. MBDance is honored to join over 1,900 other performing artists who continue to benefit and develop through ally-building and resource-sharing. We are so looking forward to blooming with you!

Interested in becoming an art advocate yourself?

Click below to support MBDance and participate in The Field’s
mission of helping artists grow to our full potential:
www.thefield.org/MBDance

Femme Day of Action at Judson Church
Beyond Visibility: Illuminating & Aligning Femmes in NYC

We’re proud to carve out our take on gender presentation & prescribed notions of femininity with Women I Know (watch an excerpt here).

Sunday, January 15, 2012
7:00 pm
Judson Memorial Church, 239 Thompson St.
(directly below Washington Square Park)
Women I Know, performed by Jessi Patz

More info on Beyond Visibility: beyondvisibility.femme2012.com
Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/femmedayofaction

New MBDance: Stand

During MBDance’s Florida State University residency, two graduate students requested that Maria create a duet for their MFA concert. They began working on the new piece–Stand–at FSU, and Rachel Hunter and Keisha Calderon travel to New York this month to continue the creative process. Their duet  will be the first section of a larger half-evening length Stand that Maria is creating for MBDance.

Stand, creative process at FSU, Rachel & Keisha with MBDance

In light of recent movements–the peaceful demonstrations in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, Occupy Wall Street, and the fight to ratify same-sex marriage–the motivation to stand up and out is palpable. Asserting our humanity and that of our neighbors often begins in the sizzle of internal dialogue and boils over into a physical manifestation–marching, sitting-in, occupying, being present as bodies. Stand is to be a danced exploration of our human impulse to stand up, and of the factors that contribute to our ambivalence.

Creating Stand at FSU

Feedback from Vanguard High School 

MBDance blew my students away in their performance of 50 Ways To Say… Maria so gracefully gifted our students with her ability to deconstruct Sean Bell’s tragic story through the spellbinding narrative she gleans from the body.
I witnessed a deep transformation wash over my students as they got lost in the emotion and movement of the performance.  I am grateful that many of my students experienced her work–there is an urgency within it that is so relevant to the communities of color they come from.
This is how it should be done!!
-Vanguard English teacher, Charan Morris

In December, we were invited to Vanguard to share contemporary dance & examples of black success with the students. Maria Bauman & Kendra Ross offered a lecture-demonstration based on 50 Ways to Say..., and were humbled by the students’ candor and intelligence.

What are the MBDance Collaborators Up to?

The artists who make up MBDance are all amazing and up to excellent work. Catch them in the city–no, in the U.S.–no, around the world!

Maria Bauman, Founder & Choreographer

Maria is happy to collaborate with others outside of her MBDance projects! On January 16th she will perform as part of Jawole Zollar & Liz Lerman’s presentation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Symphony Space.
FREE, 6:30pm, symphonyspace.org/mlk
Then, in February, Maria is pleased to re-join the cast of 4 Electric Ghosts touring to North Carolina. The piece was conceived by Mendi + Keith Obadike with lead collaborators Angela’s Pulse. carolinaperformingarts.org

Zoe Rabinowitz, Dancer

Associate Artistic Director of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, Zoe is gearing up for their upcoming performances at the Joyce SoHo.
January 19-21 at 7:30pm; January 22 at 2pm
Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street
Tickets: $18, Student/Senior $15
Click here to purchase tickets

Ashley Phillips recently collaborated with Chaney Sims & Ganessa James to perform Root.Soul.Music at Dixon Place and Branded Saloon. Currently, Ashley is on the producing team of a monthly QTPOC cabaret called TRANSformation which happens every first Thurs. of the month at WOW Cafe Theatre.

Maresa D'Amore-Morrison, Dancer

Maresa has been working with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company, preparing for a 12-week US tour. She is also working with Adira Amram & The Experience, spreading glittery magic and making NYC laugh at two monthly shows: Night of the Living with Kurt Braunohler, and The Party Machine. Otherwise, you can find her teaching at the Ailey School, or in the kitchen trying out a new recipe, and “looking forward to the next time I can work with all of the beauties that make up MBDance.”                        

Terre Unité Parker, Dancer

Terre presents Trust Me, an experiment in collective creativity. Inspired by Anna Halprin’s 10 Myths (1967-8), Trust Me invites audiences & performers to meet in a fantastical world and play with new ways of relating with each other and the natural environment.
Haybarn Theater, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT February 3^rd, 2012. Northampton, MA, Spring 2012 (with support from the Northampton Arts Council, Inc.). For more information please email terreunite@gmail.com.

Keith Witty, Composer

Keith’s been working tirelessly on an upcoming record with the international collaborative trio, THIEFS. He is also composing for & rehearsing with the Keith Witty Quintet–show coming up on January 18th at the Cornelia Street Cafe! In addition, he’s still performing & recording with Amel Larrieux and continuing his residency with the NYC Opera’s education department, composing music with 7th graders.

Chioke I'Anson, Audio Engineer

Jessi Patz, Dancer

Kendra Ross, Dancer

Kendra is pleased to announce the premiere of her piece Destruction/Revitalization…Repurpose, co-choreographed with Detroit dancer Maya Cadwell-Stovall in the Midwest Regional Alternative (RAD) festival March 2-4, 2012.  Kendra is currently in Bahia, Brazil for the Roseangela Silvestre Intensive where she is excited to study modern and orixa dances.  In April she will teach a residency at Detroit School of Arts.

Daniel José Older, Composer

Daniel’s short story PHANTOM OVERLOAD appears in this brand new anthology from Crossed Genres Press, a collection of speculative fiction about subverting the system: http://crossedgenres.com/titles/subversion/
He also has a book coming out next summer!

GO, a national magazine which celebrates culture and queer activism, just published a feature dedicated to women that lift up LGBTQ equity and help keep the community moving forward in various ways–Women at the Helm. Maria Bauman was included, as the founder of MBDance! “Dancing is about claiming our own bodies as vessels for storytelling and truth,” Bauman says.
Read the full article here: gomag.com.

MBDance Goes to High School

Trebien Pollard & Maria Bauman in 50 Ways to Say... Photo: Adrian Jones

This week, we are holding a lecture-demonstration for Vanguard High School based on 50 Ways to Say...
While always a pleasure to dance in theater settings, our goal with 50 Ways to Say…is to use the piece as a popular education tool, sharing excerpts from this work on racialized police brutality as a springboard for consciousness-raising & community-building in various settings.
We look forward to talking with the intelligent young people at Vanguard about their own bodies, and about how they can fortify themselves with both pride & awareness of the race construct here in the U.S.
Want to bring an MBDance lecture-demonstration or participatory mini-performance to your group?
Send us a message: mbdance723@gmail.com

Sweat Your Truth, Technology Geniuses!

MBDance seeks current college students or recent graduates with an interest in dance and/or arts administration for a part-time internship. Responsibilities include archiving and converting video footage, assisting with website maintenance, emailing potential contacts, and assisting with booking & marketing research.

MBDance is a rapidly growing contemporary dance company founded by Maria Bauman. Recent activities include a 3-week teaching residency at the Florida State University, 2011 Dixon Place HOT! Festival, 2011 92Y Harkness Dance Festival, 2011 E-Moves at Harlem Stage (favorably reviewed in the New York Times), and a 2011 DTW Studio Series with residency & showings.

Hours: 5-10/week; flexible

Compensation: Bi-weekly stipend; also, MBDance is happy to provide letters of recommendation for successful interns and to cooperate with college credit programs.

To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to mbdance723@gmail.com

For More Information about MBDance: www.mbdance.org

Photo: BJ Watkins Design: Ashley Phillips

November 2-November 7, 2011: We are honored to be a guest company for Ground Zero Dance Company‘s concert, Only Connect. The first two shows were fabulous, with Ground Zero company member Pam England opening the concert with a world premiere, and MBDance closing with three pieces. Two more shows to go!

Read Richmond’s Style Weekly‘s article on the concert, featuring an interview with Maria Bauman! Style Weekly article

While in Richmond, Maria Bauman was lucky enough to sweat her truth with young contemporary dancers. She taught two MBDance classes for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dance Department, assisted by company member Kendra Ross.

And MBDance just got back from Florida & Georgia!

MBDance had a 3-week teaching residency with the Florida State University dance department. We focused on each dancer’s point of view in daily technique classes, and also gave a lecture-demonstration based on the intersection of identity & body that is MBDance. Thank you, FSU!

Maria with FSU dance students after sweating it out!

Then, Maria headed yonder to Thomasville, GA to work with old & new friends at the South Georgia Ballet. It was a pleasure for her to dance with bold, bright girls and to go back to her southern roots!

Some of the smartest dancers Maria has worked with!

Photos of South Georgia Ballet students by Laura Miles

Next up:

In December, MBDance will hold a lecture-demonstration for Vanguard High School based on 50 Ways to Say... It is our absolute humbling pleasure to share excerpts from this work about racialized police brutality off the concert stage with New York students. Thank you, Vanguard!

September 19-October 7, 2011: Teaching Residency with the Florida State University Dance Department

November 3-5, 2011: MBDance shares the stage at Dogtown Dance Theater in Richmond, VA, as guests of  Ground Zero Dance Company. We will perform 50 Ways to Say…, Women I Know, and Concerning Proximity.

Did you see the review in the
New York Times?

MBDance was part of E-Moves, a New York showcase of Emerging & Established choreographers of color. After that concert at Harlem Stage, Claudia LaRocco considered the work. While Maria Bauman has been written about as a performer, this is the first Times mention of her choreography! Read the review. Kudos to the dancers, Kendra Ross & Maresa D’Amore-Morrison!

Young Dancers Try On MBDance Repertory!

Dancewave students perform an excerpt from the MBDance work rejecting gender stereotypes, "Women I Know."

This summer, MBDance was tapped to teach Technique & Repertory for Dancewave’s Summer Dance Intensive in Brooklyn, NY. Our discussions and their interaction with the topics of gender roles, individuality, and media messages were quite invested and inspiring. It was great to delve into that material with teenagers!

Summer has arrived, and MBDance & friends love to sweat…so here are some opportunities for that in July!

Maria Bauman shares her newest solo, Women I Know, at Dixon Place.

Women I Know, photography by BJ Watkins

What: contemporary dance solo about pushing away the walls of an encroaching box of prescribed femininity. The piece includes honest & beautiful photography of women by BJ Watkins and a live original score by Ashley Phillips.
Who: Maria Bauman is dancing this one! Also on the bill are the amazing Ephrat Asherie, Jen Abrams, Diana Y Greiner, & Lauren Feldman.
When: TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011 7:30pm
Where: Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, NY, NY
How: Purchase $15 tickets @ www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9065205
Tickets are $12 for students & seniors.   

Maria Bauman teaches open classes at Peridance!

What: contemporary dance classes; technique & MBDance repertory (Women I Know) led in a “Sweat Your Truth!” way–challenging & honoring the body and the artist
Who: YOU & EVERYONE ELSE YOU KNOW WHO HAS A BODY THAT WANTS TO MOVE
When: Saturday & Sunday, July 9 & 10, 2011 5:30-7:30pm
Where: Peridance Studio, 0126 E. 13th Street, NY, NY
How: Register @ www.peridan;-ce.com/program.cfm?P_ID=24
Walk-up participants are welcome if there is space after online registrants.

Oh, and July 23 is MBDance Founder Maria Bauman’s birthday. Let’s all stretch a little longer, breathe it in a little deeper, and lunge a little lower on that day!

It was a blast, and always a pleasure to work with Maija Garcia who provided the dance direction. The joint was truly jumpin’, and after the last night, some of the musicians and Ms. MBDance hit Lenox Lounge, an historic Harlem jazz nightclub, to eat and cut up. And then Spirit hit. Watch a clip of what happened as Jason & Meshell heated up and invited the dance (6:23):

Perhaps you missed the lively discussion on contemporary narrative at Dance Theater Workshop this spring. Panelists included Maria Bauman (MBDance live & direct!), Faye Driscoll, Walter Dunderville, Jack Fervor, and Andre Lepecki, moderated by Katherine Profeta. Here is the audio. Of course, MBDance championed narrative in the end, but not without a lovely roller coaster ride. Listen! What do you think?

DTW Podcast (#6 Lobby TALKS: Contemporary Narrative)